(High Voltage Magazine USA 06/09)Monocular's sound is akin to Bjork as a mildly schizophrenic lounge singer on Alphaville. The German electro duo, comprised of Jan and Nic Koray, tempers Trip Hop into soothing soundscapes and morphs ambient noise into morbidly mellow synth pop. The enveloping darkness of their synthetic musicality is balanced with a storytale sweetness in their songwriting. At times they sound like a suicidal Brian Molko and at times like they could share a stage with the Bird and the Bee. Their 13-track debut, Somewhere on the Line, is the most exciting thing to happen the genre since the Sugarcubes reunited… okay, that's a lie… since Portishead reunited. Izzy Cihak